On day 134 of the war, Putin decides to "intimidate" Ukraine: "We’re only just getting started"
ALONA MAZURENKO — THURSDAY, 7 JULY 2022, 20:25
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who unleashed the war on Ukraine, has said that Russia is "only just getting started".
Source: pro-Kremlin media outlet RIA Novosti
Direct quote: "Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield... Well, what can you say? Let them try.
We have already heard many times that the West wants to fight with us to the last Ukrainian. This is a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but everything seems to be heading that way. But everyone should know that by and large, we haven’t started anything yet in earnest.
At the same time, we do not reject peace talks either, but those who reject them should know that the further it goes, the harder it will be for them to negotiate with us."
Details: Putin, who has traditionally tried to intimidate Ukraine and talked about the "decadent" West, sat at a huge table away from other people.
He also declared that Russian sovereignty had been strengthened as a "side-effect" of the war against Ukraine.
Putin said the main goal of the attack on Ukraine was to defend Donbas and "strengthen the security of Russia itself".
The Russian president shifts the blame for the war against Ukraine onto the West and the US and claims that the West has already "lost", because the "American-style disruption of the world order" has begun.
On 7 July, Putin met with the heads of Russian political parties and said that in Russia there are "many parties" but "one homeland".
Syria, Belarus and North Korea openly support Russia's war against Ukraine.
On 2 March, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calling on Moscow to immediately withdraw all its forces from Ukraine. 141 countries voted for the resolution, 5 were against and 35 abstained. Russia itself, Belarus, which is involved in the invasion, Syria, Eritrea and North Korea voted against the resolution.
Putin said that the mythical "expansion of NATO" was one of the reasons Russia invaded Ukraine. Sweden and Finland, both of which share a border with Russia, have decided to join the alliance. Putin made no mention of NATO expansion during the 7 July meeting.
After Russia’s attempts to capture Kyiv and Chernihiv oblasts failed and the Ukrainian Armed Forces forced Russian troops to withdraw from the region, Putin declared that the goal of the war was to "liberate" Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. At the same time, Russia still hopes to capture the south of Ukraine and advance as far as the Transnistria region in Moldova.
Over the five months since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has shifted the "goals" of the invasion more than once. Meanwhile, many countries all over the world recognise the Russian invasion as a genocide of the Ukrainian people.
